register
L. Alan Winters

University of Sussex and CEPR, UK, the Global Development Network (GDN), India, and IZA, Germany

Better information produces better policy and by making the best research findings widely available World of Labor can help policymakers and the public find the best solutions

IZA World of Labor role

Author, Topic spokesperson

Current position

Professor of Economics, University of Sussex, and CEO of the Migrating Out of Poverty Research Programme Consortium, UK

Research interest

Trade, migration, and development

Website

http://bit.ly/Winters_Sussexpage

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Director, Development Research Group, The World Bank (2004–2007); Chief Economist, Department for International Development, (DfID) London, UK (2008–2011)

Past positions

Professor of Economics, University of Sussex, UK (1999–); Birmingham (1990–1994); Bangor (1986–1990)

Qualifications

PhD, University of Cambridge, 1978

Selected publications

  • “Seperability and the specification of foreign trade functions.” Journal of International Economics 17 (1984): 239–263.

  • “How regional blocs affect excluded countries: The price effects of MERCOSUR.” American Economic Review 92:4 (2002): 889–904.

  • “Trade liberalisation and economic performance: An overview.” Economic Journal 114:493 (2004): F4–F21.

  • “Trade liberalisation and poverty: The evidence so far.” Journal of Economic Literature XLII (2004): 72–115 (with A. McKay and N. McCulloch).

  • Regional Integration and Development. Oxford University Press for World Bank, 2003 (with M. Schiff). Translated into French, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.

article(s)

  • International trade regulation and job creation Updated

    Trade policy is not an employment policy and should not be expected to have major effects on overall employment

    L. Alan WintersMattia Di Ubaldo, February 2020
    Trade regulation can create jobs in the sectors it protects or promotes, but almost always at the expense of destroying a roughly equivalent number of jobs elsewhere in the economy. At a product-specific or micro level and in the short term, controlling trade could reduce the offending imports and save jobs, but for the economy as a whole and in the long term, this has neither theoretical support nor evidence in its favor. Given that protection may have other—usually adverse—effects, understanding the difficulties in using it to manage employment is important for economic policy.
    MoreLess